La. holding onto 53% of LSUHSC-N.O. medical grads

More than half the 175 graduating medical students at LSUHSC New Orleans who participated in the National Resident Match Program this year have chosen to remain in Louisiana to complete their medical training.

About 75 percent of the 92 staying in-state will enter an LSU residency program.

“Our medical graduates are some of the most sought-after in the country,” said Dr. Larry Hollier, chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans. “That more than half of them have chosen to remain in Louisiana again this year is a testament to the high quality of our graduate medical education programs.” the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans said Friday.

The Match, conducted annually by the National Resident Matching Program, is the primary system that matches applicants to residency programs with available positions at U.S. teaching hospitals and academic health centers.

“All of our residency programs filled,” said Dr. Steve Nelson, dean of the School of Medicine at LSUHSC New Orleans. “The increased number of positions — up to 182 this year — bodes well for Louisiana’s future. The supply of physicians practicing in Louisiana not only affects access to care, but also local economies and the larger state economy.”

The percentage of LSUHSC New Orleans medical graduates going into primary care is 57 percent this year, a significant increase over last year’s 43 percent. Primary Care specialties included are family practice, internal medicine, medicine-preliminary, medicine-primary, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, and medicine-pediatrics. OB-GYN is not always included in primary care data; however, in some Louisiana communities the only physician is an OB-GYN.